On poisons in relation to medical jurisprudence and medicine . e suspected of witchcraft. The com-mon belief is that innocent persons who take it, vomit, and are safe,while the guilty retain the poison and die from its effects. So strongis popular confidence in this test, that those who are suspected, volun-tarily take an emulsion of this dreadful seed ; and, as Sir R. Christisonremarks, many an innocent person thus pays the penalty of his rashreliance on a superstitious custom. As it is a firm matter of faith thatif a man dies he is guilty, such a custom is beyond the reach of anyappeal to re
On poisons in relation to medical jurisprudence and medicine . e suspected of witchcraft. The com-mon belief is that innocent persons who take it, vomit, and are safe,while the guilty retain the poison and die from its effects. So strongis popular confidence in this test, that those who are suspected, volun-tarily take an emulsion of this dreadful seed ; and, as Sir R. Christisonremarks, many an innocent person thus pays the penalty of his rashreliance on a superstitious custom. As it is a firm matter of faith thatif a man dies he is guilty, such a custom is beyond the reach of anyappeal to reason. Illustrations of this bean of its natural size areannexed. (See Fig. 102, p. 756.) This bean owes its properties to the presence of an alkaloidal sub-stance called Physostigmia. It is found in the cotyledon, and thecomplex process adopted for its separation by Jobst and Hesse isdescribed in the Chemical News for March 5, 1864, p. 109. Themedicinal dose of the powdered bean is from one to four grains. The 756 CALABAR BEAN SYMPTOMS AND EFFECTS. Fig. a. The bean, of its natural The same, seen edgewise. dose of the extract, which is made with rectified spirit, is from one-sixteenth to one-quarter of a grain. The bean or seed has a thin, hard, dark-colored, brittle covering; thekernel inside is white, and weighs from thirty-six to fifty grains—the whole seed about sixty-seven grains. (Fig. 102.) Sir R. Christisoncould detect no poisonous alkaloid in the seed,but he found that the active principle (phy-sostigmia) could be extracted by alcohol, whichdissolves per cent, of the seed, includingthis substance. That alcohol will remove thepoisonous principle is proved by the fact thatthe exhausted residue is not always poisonous.(Bouchardat, Ann. de Therapeutique, 1864, See also Pharm. Jour., 1863, p. 561.)The greater part of the seed, as in nux vomica,consists of inert substances, with a small quan-tity of oil. The kernel is yellowish-white, without bittern
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectpoisons, bookyear1875
